So I´ve almost been here a full week- but WOW has it been busy. I´ve had orientation, tours of Antigua, and Guatemala city, and a weekend visiting el Lago Atitland(a lake- in the picture below I am standing on a dock there), San Pedro, Panajachel and chichicastenango (A HUGE market!! There´s a "where´s waldo?" picture of me to the left in the market) my first day working a full day was FULL! I started off in the kitchen because each volunteer works the kitchen once a week. Cooking for 500 plus is fun:-) after serving soup and tortillas I went to work in a class room of girls from ages 9-11. There were 24 of them
, one teacher and myself. The girls have SOOOOOOOO much energy!!! It was a little overwhelming my first half hour because there was soooo much noise. They had all just gotten back from lunch and were bouncing off the walls, pushing eachother around playing games etc. During class, some of them switched their names, hid on our way coming back from the bathroom, and would tease me... ay de mi! Some of those girls are really quick, while we were working on math problems I was really impressed with how some would find solutions super rapido:-) THey would also help eachother and explain things to one another. They are all very friendly and outgoing. I think they are accustomed to volunteers because by the end of the first day they were all giving me hugs and kisses goodbye. awe. I can´t wait for tomorrow where I will be working the morning with students ages 15-20. That might be more of a challenge becuase many of these students began their education later in life and so find the work more difficult. In the afternoon we will also be taking the girls SWIMMING! They just started a swimming program in the last couple weeks. All the students have new swimsuites and bathing caps, and are SOO excited about learning. They get bussed to a pool. Some of them love Camino Seguro so much that we have to make sure everyone is out of the classroom at the end of the day when it is time to leave. It is not a rare occurence that a student tries to hide in the building.
, one teacher and myself. The girls have SOOOOOOOO much energy!!! It was a little overwhelming my first half hour because there was soooo much noise. They had all just gotten back from lunch and were bouncing off the walls, pushing eachother around playing games etc. During class, some of them switched their names, hid on our way coming back from the bathroom, and would tease me... ay de mi! Some of those girls are really quick, while we were working on math problems I was really impressed with how some would find solutions super rapido:-) THey would also help eachother and explain things to one another. They are all very friendly and outgoing. I think they are accustomed to volunteers because by the end of the first day they were all giving me hugs and kisses goodbye. awe. I can´t wait for tomorrow where I will be working the morning with students ages 15-20. That might be more of a challenge becuase many of these students began their education later in life and so find the work more difficult. In the afternoon we will also be taking the girls SWIMMING! They just started a swimming program in the last couple weeks. All the students have new swimsuites and bathing caps, and are SOO excited about learning. They get bussed to a pool. Some of them love Camino Seguro so much that we have to make sure everyone is out of the classroom at the end of the day when it is time to leave. It is not a rare occurence that a student tries to hide in the building. 
It is really wonderful working with the students during the day, they´re so energetic and love life. But it is hard to think about the conditions many of them go home to at night, especially after getting our first tour of Guatemala city and the dump.
If you look in the upper left corner of the picture, right below the houses, those are actually coffins laying on the hill side. We were informed that if the family members of the deceased don´t continue to pay land rent fees after someone is buried they are taken out.
You can smell the dump from the Camino Seguro building. Worse when it rains. Up close it is almost unbearable. But at the program all the students and families (and volunteers and staff) are provided with access to the health clinic. Which is good because the respiratory problems that resut from being exposed to the methane gas that is emmitted from the dump are lifelong. I can´t bear to think about what would happen to these energetic children without the health care, food, and love provided at camino seguro. Luckily, reality for them is getting better. 
To the right is a picture of my housemate kim with one of the many little angels she cares for during the day. (If you look carefully you can see her halo) Visiting the little ones was probably the BEST part of the trip so far! I am going to try to see if I could work with them maybe once or twice a week. If not I am sure I will have my work cut out working with the older kids. I am learning all sorts of new Guatemalan slang from them:-) 
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